Sunday, October 14, 2012

Savory, Slow-Cooked Pork Stew for #SundaySupper

When I think of comfort food, I think of rich flavors. Sauces. I think of intoxicating smells that conjure fond memories of growing up. I think of coming home from college and eating my mom's home-cooked meals. And I think of something I can put in a pot or a crockpot and let cook all day while we lay around in our pajamas and watch movies all day. I do NOT, for once, think healthy. (Although, this recipe is not unhealthy.)

After years of practice, I am proud to say I have mastered the art of the stew. And after a long internal struggle, I have finally learned to embrace the warm glow of the crockpot. I used to consider the crockpot to be lazy cooking. I considered the people who used them to be a sellout. But nothing can cook something slowly and bring out the flavors in certain recipes better.

Wow, am I glad I got over myself because this meal is just amazing. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it. The family loved it. And it makes for great leftovers too. It takes a little bit of preparation the day before, but I included substitutions to make it even easier.

Ingredients:

1 qt. Tomato sauce (Homemade. Not something store-bought from a jar, please. That would make me sad.)

3 bone-in, center-cut pork chops, dry marinated and grilled

4 medium roasting potatoes, cubed

1/2 medium onion, sliced

1/2 package frozen peas

Procedure:

Dry marinate your pork chops before grilling them. I suggest grilling them because the first time I made this stew I used leftover grilled pork chops. They added a nice smokey flavor. Dry marinate with anything from just salt and pepper, to garlic power, rosemary, parsley, and oregano. Let them sit a half hour to an hour before you grill them until they're browned on each side. You can also broil them, I guess. Or to avoid grilling, use a fattier cut of pork like a loin roast.

I also used leftover homemade tomato sauce. (I call it "gravy." But I'm not getting into that argument right now. Whatever.) If you don't have any homemade, PLEASE don't use Ragu or anything else from a jar. That's an insult to my heritage and my recipe. Get 2-3 large cans of Redpack or some other brand of plain old tomato Sauce and use that. Do NOT use puree. That's sh!t's too sweet. Yuck.

Pour everything into your crockpot, sauce first. Cook it on low for 10-11 hours. Or until the pork falls off the bone.

About 9-10 hours in, add the peas.

Serve with some of your favorite bread for dunking. The dunking is key.

Making it Peanut-friendly:

The pork was a big hit because Peanut does not like red meat unless it's very tender. So whenever I make a beef stew, it's a struggle to get her to eat let alone enjoy it. Pork falls under her "chicken" category. Score.

Another crock pot recipe--I love it! While I do love crock pot cooking, I often refer to it as a torture cooker--if you're at home surrounded by those wonderful aromas for hours on end, it can be torture!